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Back from Cape Coast!

We had an amazing 3 days in Cape Coast and the surrounding area. Photo uploads will follow later today if I run out of WiFi time now.

We traveled just over two hours to Cape Coast from Accra on Friday August 9th and felt welcomed by the sea breeze and the salt air of the coastal city of Cape Coast, the former capital of the Gold Coast (the name of the country before Ghanaian Independence in 1957) when the British ran their administration from here. Once settled into our guesthouse we explored our surroundings on foot, and discovered the sea was really close, crashing waves and all. We learned that the land around Cape Coast is very hilly with limited access to flat land for cultivation of food which is why the capital city was moved to Accra at the time of Independence. Late afternoon we went to the nearby fishing village of Elmina where fishing has been a way of life since the 1300s. We also took the opportunity to climb St. Joseph’s Hill, known to be home to the first Catholic Church brought here by the Portuguese. We enjoyed the casual atmosphere of the area eating dinner next to the sea.

On a serious note, Saturday morning we visited Cape Coast Castle, more aptly entitled a dungeon, which calls for a pause when one stops to think of the horrors that went on here during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Later on Saturday we transitioned to a drumming and dance workshop with Antoinette who is well known as the only female master drummer in Ghana. Traditionally it is a taboo for women and girls to be drummers. Sunday morning found us heading off early to the Kakum National Park to experience a canopy walk through a rain forest and a hike to learn about traditional uses of medicinal plants in the forest.